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Lorayit was in the middle of a transaction when he's approached by two crimelords and their trailing egos. The men banter and threaten, and they even share whiskey in the blooming Weyr gardens.

Rating:

PG-16 for some language

Logger:

Lorayit

If Max’s men are following closely, they would see that the Bitran crimelord tries to spend as much time with his men beyond the Weyr walls as he can. He and his second take their meals with them, bathe with them, jest with them. It was important for them to have their leader, and it was important for Vaputero to maintain that that link between them should things at the Weyr go belly-up.

The two men took their time seeking out their wily gardening ‘friend’ until all was in order, the second having found the Weyr gardens and all their splendor. The Bitran men weren’t the sorts to take the time to look at such beauty, so they ambled down the rows upon rows of flowers and herbs before finding the large jutting rock where Lorayit was perched upon. The gardener didn’t look his calm and collected self, the man idly plucking a small, stringed musical instrument that belonged to the traveling harper standing beside him. “You won’t find its like anywhere else,” the young harper-type was saying in low tones, leaning over to press fingers to parts of the instrument that he wanted the gardener to look at. “I could part with it, for a price….”

It was only while the Bitran crimelord and his second were within the Weyr proper that eyes and ears held to every move they made. Once they moved outside and joined their men, a watch of idle interest was kept to ensure the safety of those coming and going as well as a means to keeping track (as far as possible) of any business activities Vaputero might be trying to employ on the Southern continent.

The gardens generally aren't somewhere that Max frequents. Then again, Southern's young crimelord has been seen a lot of places about the Weyr lately where one might not expect him to be. And so it is that while Vaputero and Faust enter from the one direction, so Max arrives by another. With his hands shoved into pockets, and sauntering along at a slow amble, the way in which his head moves this way and that with him pausing every now and then, one might think he were just out for an early evening stroll and appreciating the beauty that surrounds him. Waine, is not a visible presence.

Lorayit appears oblivious to both crimelords approaching, and that’s probably for the best. He’s giving the musical instrument – one that looks like it should be in the antique hands of a Master than some shabby-looking harper – a good once-over before he fits a dark look up at the man. “Seems awfully nice, to be in your hands,” he tells the young man with a suspicious light. Yeah, he was certain the young harper had lifted it and was looking to off-load it quickly. “We seem to be in the middle of a lucrative transaction here,” the deep voice rumbles over whatever Lo was going to say, both men turning to find Vaputero and Faust striding up to them with their usual arrogance. It’s then that the gardener notices Max as well, and the curse that he wants to utter stills on his tongue. He pauses in this way with the rich instrument between them, the young harper looking from one man to the other in dubious confusion of what was about to go down. Whether Vaputero knows that Max is near doesn’t register openly on his face – especially in light of the item that’s on display before them. “And what is this we’re bartering?” We’re.

Max's mouth twitches to one side in the idea of a cold smile when he sees the Bitran pair approaching from the opposite direction but for the time being he seems to ignore them, or at least pretend like he hasn't seen them yet. He is however highly interested in the conversation going on between the young harper and Lorayit for every now and then he flicks them a glance. Steps slow allowing Vaputero and Faust to arrive at the large rock first, hanging back for a moment or two and then, with an easygoing expression in place, Max walks right passed the Bitrans and reaches for the instrument Lorayit has been admiring. "Ah, it's finally arrived," as if this were an item he'd had on back order or something, though it might be hard to determine whether he addresses the harper or the gardener, "Very nice, very nice indeed." And then, if the instrument has been released into his care, he'll pluck at a few strings, head tipped to one side as if he actually knows what he's doing.

The tension rises like the wind when the southern crimelord breezes on over and takes up the bronze-shined stringed piece from Lorayit’s hands. The young harper’s darting a sharp look the gardener’s way now in the heavy silence, his own fingers visibly twitching as if he was about to snatch the instrument back from Max. “This is yours?” Vaput is sending Max’s way with heavy disbelief, equally darting a cold glance towards the gardener as if for confirmation. “Didn’t realize you had a taste for stolen pieces.” – “Must be for his ma,” Faust drops, snorting as he flanks his boss. “Or those runners of his.” Lo, for his part, does not look sure who to look to – the southern crimelord or the Bitran one. Choosing to force a smile and clap the young harper on the back, “Men love to jest in these walls,” reassures the man, moving to step off of the rock to hold out his hand towards Max for the instrument. “It is not what you think, either of you,” he sends to both crimelords to diffuse the situation. “Your own will arrive a seven from now, Max. Now come away and give the piece back to young Haren, here, so he could be on his way.” – “Sounds like he was in the process of selling it, to me,” Faust tosses in, his rock arms folding across a broad chest. To Max, “Didn’t seem like it was yours, either,” he adds, nodding to those fingers plucking a few strings, the sound smooth and sweet on the air.

Tension? What tension? Max certainly isn't tense. Or at least he doesn't look to be at any rate. Perhaps he's been hitting the fellis. Either way he ignores the worried looks being exchanged between the harper and gardener and sets Vaputero with an amused look, "Stolen? Who said anything about stolen?" When Faust speaks up a crookedly shaped grin appears, "Give the man a prize, he got it right first time. It's for my Ma." Yeah right. He must be high! With feigned reluctance and a sigh to go with it for good measure he does however hand the instrument back to the young harper along with a surreptitious wink and then his focus goes to Lorayit. "Good to know." Faust once again becomes the focus of his attention and a light snort is uttered, "And what were you going to do with it, eh? Drink ale out of it?"

“Stolen or no,” Lo is cutting in before Vaputero is cutting him off. “Something tells me something like this would be too tame for the great Indira,” comes the crimelord’s words, the man alluding to his recent meet with Max’s mother. “Something more….elegant, would suffice.” But then the instrument is being handed back over to Haren, and he’s dipping a nod towards Lo before nearly tripping on himself before heading off. The gardener was cursing inwardly and upset at the mangled sale (or lack thereof), and so he is forced to turn on the two crimelords and droll out, “You, sirs, have the cunning of wherries. I was in the middle of business before you barged in.” No point in hiding the matter, to which the big Bitran is almost smirking. It’s Faust that mocks, however. “First shopping sprees, now buying pieces off of harper boys? What’s next, selling what you have between your legs?” Lo narrows his eyes at him for that dig, then turns to Vaput and Max and asks, “Is there a reason why there’s renegades loitering in my precious garden tonite? I’m assuming the two you now know each other.” Blue eyes flick from Max to Vaputero and back, trying to gauge the air between them and their connection with him. He was definitely in delicate position right now with one being his boss and the other on shaky ground with him. So he turns with calm ease to retrieve the bottle of whiskey at the base of the rock, taking a long drink before passing it first Max and adding, “Might as well be friendly.”

And there it is, just the faintest trace of Vaputero having gotten through that facade that Max is wearing, evidenced in the light narrowing of his eyes when the Bitran speaks of Indira in the manner in which he does. Its soon replaced with a pointed smirk directed straight at the northern crimelord as are his next words, "A lot more elegant." As if to say the Bitran falls way short of that mark and then Lo is speaking up and that in turn has Max turning an innocent look over to the gardener, "Business you say? Aw jays, Lo. I'm sorry. Shall I leave and come back later?" Yeah right. To Faust is sent a wry, "He's already done that," on the matter of the gardener selling of his dangly bits. And back to Lorayit with a flick of eyes sent Vaputero's way, "No reason. Just thought maybe our Bitran friend here might like some fresh flowers for his room." Yes and wherries will fly backwards the day that Max cares one jot about Vaputero's comfort. However, when the bottle of whiskey appears and is handed over after Lorayit has taken a drink a crooked grin falls into place, "Ah, you know me so well."

Vaput could detect the jibe, but he could play the façade game, too. Looking to provoke the younger man, “Elegance in one with such soft thighs,” is his counter, to which his second is snorting his own amusement. Even Lo is narrowing eyes at that one though, the gardener putting forth dryly, “I assure you the Headwoman wouldn’t be your taste, Ilste. She’s the sort to actually fight back.” – “Ahh, and you assume I have a type? You’ve been away from me for far too long, gardener.” Vaput puts the ball in his court by blowing his cover in Max’s presence, the tension between the men turning chilly. The coldness Lo sends toward the Bitrans is palpable, but it’s slow the response that he returns blithely. “The women would say not long enough, Bitran.” Beat. “This gardener’s sold nothing but his dignity, apparently,” Lorayit’s dropping now when Max answers Faust, feeling himself being put on the line as he takes to leaning casually against the rock. And fresh flowers?” A brow lifts to that one, seeing the words for what they were. “How kind that the Weyr’s beast manager is being the perfect host to criminals.” – “Like I am being to Besutol?” That gets the gardener to stop, the underlying threat there in the air with those easy words before he drops it. Max takes the bottle then, and Lo flicks a glance the man’s away before stating, “Here I was, expecting the two of you to be killing each other by now.” One could even detect the disappointment lying in smooth words. “Must be the lack of strong drink. Allow me to remedy that.” One can’t say the man doesn’t have a wicked sense of humor in the face of tension.

Hands clench into fists where they're situated in his pocket and Max's jaw sets but he holds his tongue for a moment or two before a tight smirk traces out. "She'd castrate you quicker'n you could drop your pants," he gives to Vaputero on the heels of Lorayit's response, cold certainty on his mother being able to hold her own icing through his tone. And then the southern crimelord drops silent listening to the interaction between the Bitrans and the gardener, eyes narrowing when confirmation is given and the northern crimelord so blithely tosses the situation with Lo's brother into the air. Max's hand lingers a moment about the bottle, dark eyes lifting to meeting the blue of the gardener's and sending silent caution. Then he takes a swig and holds the bottle out to Vaputero, "You have a guest stayin' with you?" Remarking on the comment made about Besutol.

Vaputero returns that cold smile, seeming to detect that the hit had connected. “Mmmm, love a woman that could threaten so,” is his response to castration at the hands of Indira, idly rubbing his own broad chest as if already imagining the struggle. Yeah, he’s that twisted. The big Bitran is also watching Lorayit carefully, the words given on Besutol hitting its mark as well as the silence lingers. He takes up the bottle offered his way and takes a swig when Max asks on the ‘guest’ up north, the big Bitran shrugging non-chalantly on that one as he passes the bottle on over to his second. His grey eyes falling on Lo as he speaks, “A rowdy one,” he answers on Besutol blithely. “A disrespectful one. One you would know nothing about, southern,” and he inclines his head in Max’s direction. “So tell me, since we’re all becoming such good friends now,” and he flashes that cold smile in Lo’s direction. “What do rowdy men do for fun down in the south? Wrangle a bunch of wild felines?” – “Wild women, even?” Faust chips in with his typical words behind him. Lorayit catches the look of caution coming from Max and gives just then barest blink in understanding, then turns smoothly to the Bitran to answers, “For fun? I would say seducing maidens, but not all men have my appetites. The south is home to drunks and nose-breakers, though. Surely you’ve been by Jaya’s bar already?” and there’s that barest of smirks forming as if he had delivered an inside joke.

Oddly, Vaputero's further taunt draws a low darkly shaped laugh from Max, "That weren't no threat, mate. That was a warnin'." For Indira is not one to make idle threats and certainly not when it comes to the likes of the Bitran. With the bottle released into the northerner's care, Max folds his arms about his chest and sets the man with an unreadable look. "You'd be surprised what I know," is eventually what he chooses to respond with. A snort greets words of what is done for fun in the south and the southern crimelord moves to lean idly against Lo's rock as if lending physical demonstration of solidarity with the gardener. "We stake men out for Thread and when it's not fallin' we dangle 'em off the Star Stones by their innards." Max can't but be genuinely amused when the gardener speaks of nose-breakers, "And that's just for starters." He begins to say and than halts and sets Vaputero with a brow-lifted look, "Oh, did forget to mention that she used to run a bar here?" Used to. "Ah, it was a fine thing to see it was. Made herself a good profit too." Yeah, he's needling the man.

Snorting, “Your mother warned me enough, thanks,” the big Bitran states on Indira, shaking his head. “If that’s what you wanna call it.” When Max states what he does on what he may know, Vaputero looks the younger man over in initial response. “Wouldn’t be exactly any of your business, either,” he gives too casually, the big man examining something on his hand. “Guest like him’s too insignificant for another crimelord’s study.” – “Ahhh, but you forget, boss,” Faust puts in, handing the bottle right back to Vaput instead of Lorayit after he tips it in Max’s direction in a gesture. “He’s the man that takes on folks and all! Fugitives and the like. Thinks every man in the lands of Pern is his business.” – “Don’t understand it much myself,” Lo seems to agree with forced casualness, watching his precious whiskey return to his boss’s hand. “He is Weyrbred, after all.” – “And you’re cotbred, so you shouldn’t be so bold, gardener!” – “Why don’t the two of you kiss and be done with it,” Vaputero grumbles to them both, their rivalry finally starting to grate on his nerves. He takes his drink and passes it onto Lorayit as Max speaks on the ‘fun’ that could be had down south, the big Bitran showing a mocking look of shocked interest. He doesn’t miss the move the southern crimelord makes by standing with Lorayit as well, and his eyes narrow a fraction at it. “For fun, huh? Might be my kind of fun, ehh, Faust?” – “Hmf.” And then the talk turns to Jaya’s bar, and the fact that the Bitran barkeep was missing. The hit succeeds deep, the cold rolling off of the man evident as he stares the other crimelord down. “Ahh, I wouldn’t worry,” Lo states non-chalantly, shaking his head as he drinks gratefully. “You can still chase her back north if your schedule’s free.” – “Mighty bold words for one that is due to be back up north, soon,” Vaputero drops in warning, his words and warning swift, to which the gardener merely states tightly, “Oh, I look forward to it. I think the Marvoni twins are missing me. Can’t have them while down here, tilling the southern soil. I believe Max here was interested in meeting them as well, is that so?” and he rounds a brow towards the southern crimelord, his easy grace pointed.

Max lets the subject of his mother go and sets Vaputero with an even look, “Anythin’ what comes into my territory, is my business,” he points out. Faust is then set with a withering look, “Naw, I’m the man what cleans up when the north fucks up.” Blunt. The squabble that then lifts up between Faust and Lo is observed with some interest though he does nothing to interject or diffuse the situation merely setting Vaputero with a bland look for the narrowing of eyes sent his way for where he chooses to situate himself.

One corner of his mouth then twitches upward and an infuriatingly smug smile develops in the face of that cold stare coming from his Bitran counterpart. “Perhaps she’s decided to hand herself in, aye?” Nonchalantly spoken of where it is Jaya might be headed and then he turns a sidelong glance over to Lorayit when Vaputero speaks of the gardener being expected back up north. “Not sure if that’s gonna be possible,” he starts out shifting in his idle lean to cross one boot over the other, “gardens get mighty busy round this time of the turn. Then there’s the new crops of vegetables to tend and others to harvest. You know how it is with a new place what’s settin’ up. We need all the help we can get.” Now his dark regard lands back on Vaputero from where it had been cast down to his boots, “Tell you what, how ‘bout I offer my help in place of Lorayit here. Those Marvoni girls do sound like they might worth a trip up north.” He’s just so neighbourly ain’t he?

A finger lifting and pointing in Max’s direction so suddenly for something said, “Bitra ain’t your territory, southern,” Vaputero drops coolly, his demeanor shifting to something more sinister. “What I do in mine is none of your business. Best you learn that one quick, or I may take such insolence in hand to start some sniffing down here in yours.” Even Faust is shaking his head. “It’s the youth of these days, boss,” he adds, his eyes flicking over the darkening sky. “About as rowdy as a running knife.” Both men don’t look too pleased to hear of the prospect of Jaya turning herself in, and even worse, “Got someone in place of taking over while I’m gone,” Lo interjects when Max speaks on the gardens. The gardener hands over the bottle his way then, adding, “And you’re right. The Marvoni girls are worth the trip, believe me. Who would I be to deny them my presence any longer?” It might be his way to dispel the situation, though the look he sees on Vaput’s face may show his efforts were in vain. The bit Bitran is now flicking cold glances back and forth between and Max and Lo, his frown growing by the inch. Even his second is looking at them suspiciously now, especially in light of Max’s helpful offer to go in Lorayit’s stead.

Plucking a blue flower from a stem and bringing it to his nose, “You know,” Vaputero gives idly as if the thought had suddenly occurred to him just now, “this exchange reminds me of this turncoat I used to know. Ulas, was it?” and he plays at a frown for Faust, and his second grunts his confirmation. Lo’s face seems to go a couple shades paler at the familiar name. Looking down at the plucked flower, “Yes, Ulas. Good man, until he turned on me. It really pained me to see him fall so low..…to be forced to gut him when he was a friend of mine.” Grey eyes slide up to Max and Lorayit before adding with feigned sadness, “I didn’t want to, but how was I to know what secrets of mine he would spill? I had to protect me and mine, see, and it grieved me.” Faust is shaking his head at the injustice of it all. Another indulgent sniff, and Vaput tosses the blue flower to the ground. “I have less sympathy for liars,” he adds, his tone returning to it normal briskness. “Such …..dishonesty….it’s bad for the morale of my people. I like to keep a clean hold, see. Surely we all here, understand that.” Yeah, Lorayit understands. He sees the threat where it lies, and his throat had gone dry. The cover it all, he drawls out, “Now you’ve gone and ruined my buzz. If I had known I’d be getting lessons on turncoats and liars, I would have brought up my whole case of Bitran whiskey to drown in. Alas,” he adds, his tone one of sarcasm used as a defense mechanism, “such is life.”

A brow hikes up high when Vaputero suddenly appears to go into attack mode and for a long time Max says nothing, merely staring the other crimelord down. Eventually hands lift away from himself in a gesture of truce, "I ain't got no interest in your hole-in-the-wall, Bitran. Just sayin', when it spills over onto my turf, then it becomes my business. Keep your shit together and on your own turf and we're all good, aye?" Making the distinction clear of what he'd said earlier. Picking up on the dissatisfaction of Jaya possibly turning herself in, the southern crimelord eyes them both with amusement, "You chase her all the way down here and then when you hear she might be headin' up your way, suddenly that's no good? There's just no pleasin' some folk, or…" sly the light that enters dark eyes, "is she the loose watchwher what scares the shit outta ya, huh?" Lo's response on having someone on hand to take over from him earns him a long look from Max and then he gives a short nod of head in acceptance thereof although you can bet he and the gardener are going to be having a little one-on-one time. "Good, I'd hate to have to explain to Ma why there's no fresh greens on the tables." Because that's what his comment had been all about right? The supply of fresh produce to the Weyr. Mmhm.

The dark and ominous warning that Vautero speaks on the demise of this Ulas fellow registers little to no reaction from Max who simply sets him with a deadpan stare and then he shrugs, "I find you catch more vtols with sugar water than vinegar. It's like trainin' a runner. Treat it right, you got a ride for life. Treat it like shite and it'll throw ya at the first opportunity." Delivered with enough boredom in his tone as to deflect any suspicions away from whatever the Bitran might think is going on between himself and Lorayit. "But each to their own." This added on as he pushes away from his lean against the rock and sends a long suffering look over the three men, "If there's nothin' else?" Max puts forth looking to be bored with their company and conversation and of a mind to move on.

“And has it?” Vaputero appears undaunted as to who spills what on whose territory, his eyes narrowing. “I could say the same of you, southern.” His ire jumps on Max’s words involving Jaya – clearly, something there hits too close to home for him to be sending over a heavy warning in his stare. He says nothing to that, which might be telling, but it’s Lorayit that breaks the silence with a droll “I wouldn’t worry about her going your way, Bitra. I doubt she’s that’s stupid. Perhaps she’s attached herself to another bar. You know the woman can’t keep away from good brandy if her life depended on it.” Like he himself, apparently for he’s draining off the last of his whiskey. Apparently, Vaputero has heard enough. The little altercation didn’t exactly go his way and it shows, the big Bitran throwing a dark look the gardener’s way for his words before Max’s advice gets a grating, “Just as well I don’t train runners. Faust, let’s get on.” Grey eyes shift to Lorayit then, staring hard at the man that has shown greasy insolence to him in the presence of the southern crimelord. He did not take lightly to that one. “You and I will have words over cards, later,” he vows, and the way that was sounding, it wasn’t going to be a fun card game. Eyes then shift back to Max with a grunt of his departure, stalking out of the garden with final glances in their direction. As for Faust, his eyes linger on Lorayit only along with that cold chuckle and brief, “See you around, gardener.” Lo watches them leave, and once he sees their backs and drawls as an aside to the southern crimelord, “If you’re expecting them to sprout both a conscious and a good, noble heart, then your efforts are clearly in vain,” as he looks forlornly into the empty bottle.

"Aye? And tell me, what of my business stalks your territory, Bitran?" Max puts out through a likely irritating smirk, the heavy warning sent his way met with a small lift of brows, that same annoying amusement still in place and looking to be not in the least bit cowed by Vaputero. His dark regard swings Lorayit's way next and he utters a soft snort at what it is that might draw Jaya's attention in a certain direction but he puts no comment to it. The comment of 'Trainin' porcine would be more your style' lifts to Max's lips in response to the Bitran's remark but he wisely swallows it down. "Cards? Now that sounds like a bit of fun," seeming to be looking to insert himself into the card, or maybe he's just using any and every means at his disposal to stick it to Vaputero. Once again that irksome smirk appears when Vaputero turns to stalk off, "Have a good evenin' now," the southern crimelord calls out and then his attention touches briefly to Faust, "Don't go trippin' over your dick now." Once they're out of hearing distance, he gives Lo's comment a grunt, "All that lot is worth is a deep dark hole with nothin' but porcine shit linin' the bottome." Yeah, he knows what the Bitrans about. "You alright?" that with a glance to the gardener's now empty bottle, "You look like you could do with another." Bottle that is.

“Be smart enough not to have business stalking our territory, you mean,” Faust puts in instead of the big Bitran, his tone grumbling. The men don’t look too happy to hear Max inserting himself into the card game, either, if those dark looks are any indication, though Vaputero breaks his silence long enough answer back, “It’s fun, when I’m winning,” which looks to say that it wouldn’t be if he’s not – for the whole table. But then they’re heading off, Max’s farewell bouncing off their backs and Lorayit snorting off a dark, “Good fucking riddance,” in their wake. To Max, “Toss those in a hole and all that’s going to sprout is a dark tree bearing poisoned fruit,” is his drawl, nodding his chin in their direction before he turns to regard the beast manager. To the concern there’s a flick of fingers in dismissal of it. “Bah, you think I’m worried that the big Bitran? Or death, for that matter?” There’s a snort for that. “But I could do with another bottle. How well you read me, beast manager.”

There is little but an expressive roll of eyes to both Faust's comment and that of Vaputero's about being what effectively translates to being a bad loser. "Not surprised," Max mutters after their retreating backs and then he's hoisting himself up onto Lorayit's rock, pulling his legs up and dangling his arms over his knees. "I toss 'em in a hole, I'm first throwin' tunnelsnakes down on their heads, then I'm fuckin' fillin' it up and shovin' rocks on top." That spoken with enough relish to suggest it's an image he's toyed with a few times already. The gardener's words of not being afraid of either Vaputero or death earns him a long look, "Only the stupid and insane have no fear of death and I never took you for either. That Bitran bastard however" he views as being both stupid and insane. On the matter of full bottles in which to drown one's sorrows, Max's mouth hitches up at one corner to produce a wry smile, "Got me some supplies back in my quarters." The offer there for the gardener to join him.

“You could just fight it out with him in a ring,” Lo seems to suggest with just the touch of amusement in his voice. That amusement lifts up more to Max’s remark on his missing fear of death, the gardener not appearing apologetic as he states with a shrug, “Well, one thinks I’m stupid, and the other thinks I’m insane, so it sounds about right.” Stepping off from his lean against the rock, “I wouldn’t worry though. I have no deathwish. I just see no point in worrying about such matters. Still, can’t fuck if you’re dead, though.” That’s the cinch of it all for him. Max is then offering his own stock of alcohol and the gardener sending the man a crooked smile in return along with a single nod. “Ahhh, willing to share with the tunnelsnake of the Reaches? Lead on, then!” and he gestures jauntily in the direction of the stables. “I was going to offer good drink to my dear boss who I haven’t seen in turns, but something tells me seeking him out now just might push me that much closer to dying. I don’t want Faust ending up so pleased by my demise, if you will.”

"He'd die," Max returns with cold certainty on facing off one-on-one with Vaputero in the ring, "Man like that hides behind his muscle-heads." Men like Faust. A soft snort is uttered next as he drops back down to the ground when Lorayit pushes away from the rock, "Your survival depends on 'em thinkin' that." Calling the gardener out on his ruse for being seen as either stupid or insane, or both. There's a low laugh that can be heard on the heels of what it is that would be missed were he to die, "Aye, seems like a good enough reason to keep breathin' if you ask me." Hands go to pockets and with a tip of head in the direction the beast caverns lie, Max starts to move off toward them with a wryly spoken, "Figure us Reachians need to stick together, aye?" Falling into step with the blonde gardener there's a dark chuckle, "Faust is all brawn and no brains. He ain't hard to get rid of." And such is likely the morbid banter that likely plays back and forth between beast manager and gardener as they make their way to alcoholic solace.

“Most crimelords do, the way I see it,” Lorayit isn’t apologetic there, and is droll in delivering it. But then, Max catches on his meaning on the matter of being seen as stupid and insane, it merely getting that knowing smile before he starts following Max off towards the stables. “Stick together, huh? Would have enjoyed this camaraderie turns ago when my brother and I got caught stealing.” As for Faust, his rival? There’s a dismissal snort on that man as they head out of the gardens the man heard to say dryly, “Sure. Just throw a book his way and tell him to read it. He’ll be out of commission until Thread stops falling from the sky.”

"I don't!" Max is very quick to retort, ego a little ruffled that he might be seen to hide behind Waine's much larger bulk. That knowing smile is met with a crooked grin and a wink and then as they walk there's laughter left in their wake for Lorayit's witty repartee.